The Classical Period Directions, Diversities And Declines By 500 C.e

country had powerful and strong Empires and Dynasties. Each had their own beliefs on religions

During the 6th to 2nd centuries BCE, several challenges contributed to philosophers and leaders revising existing belief systems and developing new ones. Some of the countries where these changes were evident are China, Greece, Egypt, and Mauryan India. As countries developed, differences between members of the same societies emerged and led to conflict and more diversity. Although several different challenges, such as religion, caused leaders to revise existing belief systems and create new ones, ultimately it was the challenges of new methods of education, various wars between countries, and the influence of different cultures that contributed to the new belief systems.

Ancient Greece has been a religion- centered culture since the earliest period of habitation in Greece, the Pre-Mycenaean/Mycenaean period. Also through to the Dark Ages to the Classical period. It is a religiously centered civilization, and did have significant changes in the how it was incorporated into people’s daily lives. Religion is important to know about the Ancient Greeks because through it we are able to understand how they lived their lives.

Ancient civilizations possessed a variety of cultures and unique belief systems within their particular societies. The Greek city-states and Han China were separated by thousands of miles and located on different continents. These exceptional communities of power are polar opposites to each other, but in fact share a common sense of structure. Within this paper, themes and ideas derived from both civilizations will be crossed examined. Accordingly, similarities and differences will be brought to the light, especially pertaining to the religious aspects of these societies.

The past centuries saw a clear distinction between the Western civilization and the non-western culture. The western civilization composed of Greece, Romans, Byzantine Empire, and the European while the non-western civilizations included East Asia, Egypt, Persian Empire, Sassanid Empire, African Societies and Kingdoms, Incas, Mayans, Aztecs, and Mongols. For a long period, the western civilizations prevailed around the world. They influenced, lead and controlled others in various sectors such as medicine, clothing, business orientations, religion, and government. In this paper, I will be affirming my conviction that the western civilizations had unique attributes that made them more powerful than the non-western civilizations. I will also show how the western cultures were influenced by the spread of Christianity, and how the western cultures have maintained their great influence and power over the other societies even in the modern era.

Prior to 600 CE, the unique civilizations discussed exerted their power in many different ways. Some of them, like India and the Chinese Qin Dynasty, enforced their rule using religion, while others, like Rome, Chinese Han Dynasty, and Greece sought to rule using more legal or philosophical methods.

During the period of time between 600BCE-600CE, sometimes known as the Classical Era, empires were gradually forming in different regions of the world. Effective militaries, politics, and organization sparked the rise of these great civilizations. In the Chinese region, Han China gained superiority, in India the Mauryan and Gupta, in the Middle East Persia, and finally in the Mediterranean Rome. Overall, Rome was a successful civilization because of its imposing military, crucial organization, and social progress. However, Rome did have its shortcomings in the form of leadership. These attributes contribute to Rome’s successful place in history.

The two great civilizations of Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E. - 476 C.E.) and Han China (206 B.C.E.- 220 C.E.) were both two of the greatest civilizations ever built.In addition to the great advancements these two dynasties made, the governments of these civilizations each had ways of maintaining political control over their subjects. Although the two dynasties ways of political control were very similar, there were also major differences. The use of centralized government and military were both political power similarities among both civilizations. A major difference was that Han China was based on Confucianism, which emphasized the family unit and order while Rome was based on law and order. Another major difference between the two nations was their citizenship policies. These differences and similarities are what made these nations what they were.

The Han Dynasty and the Imperial Rome were one the most powerful empires in history. In there long reigns they both achieved great accomplishments. Although the two empires they have similarities in religious views ,militarism, and advances in engineering they also shared different views on bureaucracy,social and gender relations. Religion wasn’t a major focus for the empires till later. With considering Confucianism more as a philosophy than a religion.

Both Han China and Imperial Rome lasted approximately 400 years and spent many of those years expanding their empire through many similar and different methods of political control. For example a similarity between the two empires was that they both were patriarchal and saved political roles for men. A difference between the two empires was that both of their governments were structured differently, Han China’s structure was based on Confucianism values, as Rome emphasized a legal system. Both Han China and Imperial Rome had strong political control which led to their growth two of the greatest empires in the Classical Age. They grew at their own pace, but they shared similar methods of political control.

In Big Era 3 the Indus River Valley Civilization had a theocracy and polytheistic beliefs. Since their religion played such a larger role in government it would not have been a very accepting towards other religions. In Big Era 4 the Roman Empire built upon this and was more accepting of different religions and had many popular wide spread religions in it such as Christianity and Judaism. Even while Rome was conquering new territories and adding them into the Empire they were generally accepting of that territories religion and would allow them to still practice it. EXPLAIN HOW IT WAS GOOD AND CONNECT TO . In ancient China, there were two main systems of beliefs that people followed, Confuscanism and Buddhism. Both stressed the importance of living a moral life and treating others with respect. They were promoted by the Chinese government to create a more unified China and they reduced conflict between people. This benefitted the government because citizens were more willing to follow them and the government created a better way to rule China based on

The era 600 BCE to 600 CE was an era of empire building. Specifically, the Han, Mauryan, Gupta, and Qin were all empires in India or China during this era. The empires would function by following a belief system or religion: Hinduism, Daoism, Buddhism, Legalism, and/or Confucianism. Some laws were made based on one or more of the religions or belief system. Also, the idea how people should act was based on them. While both India and China use Buddhism as a unifying factor during 600 BCE and 600 CE, India uses Hinduism to organize social systems, while China uses confucianism to strengthen their government.

When comparing the impact of religion and philosophy in India with the impact of religion and philosophy on these classical civilization’s governments between 600 BCE and 600 CE, they were similar in that they used religion and philosophy to support social and caste divisions, they stressed the importance of following and obeying rules and the men who followed the teachings of the religion or philosophy were on the top of the social hierarchy. This was because both China and India religion and philosophy used religion to justify the social divisions like the caste system in India by talking about reincarnation or the Confucian stress on the importance of obeying authority. Both India and China also had a religion or philosophy that encouraged

First, non-axial civilisations did not develop any new form of transcendental vision, which is the development of a universalising concept that claims absolute truth, to replace the pre-existing social, political or cultural vision. This meant non-axial civilisations, which remained pre-axial in status, did not question the pre-existing spiritual and earthly orders prevalent in their societies (Reader, 1998). For example, in ancient Egyptian civilisation, the priestly caste remained paganist despite giving rise to Moses and early Judaism. Similarly, in Korean civilisation, the Korean ruling classes retained its indigenous political system; however, adopted Chinese Confucianism as its ideological base. Both examples show how non-axial civilisations

The classical era of civilization spanned from 600 BCE to 600 CE. During this time period numerous civilizations arose. The existence of these civilizations contributed to the development of the classical world, whether it be through the emergence of new religion and philosophies, development of strong political practices, or even the creation of transregional trade. Daoist, Confucian, and Legalist belief systems came from the Classical empire, China: Christianity, Judaism, and Greek Rationalism came from Rome; From the Indian civilization, Hinduism officially emerged. The Chinese empire accredits its rise after collapsing to the preservation of values that came from its various belief systems. The Indian civilizations expressed unique levels of peace and prosperity under the ruler, Ashoka as he implemented edicts to spread Buddhism and promote strong loyalty amongst his people. The Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, as well as the Indian religion, Hinduism, both delegated specific roles to the people in their corresponding societies; Both Hinduism and Confucianism created a distinct social hierarchy, based on their corresponding belief systems ideals and values, that provided for a structured government. In contrast with both Hinduism and Confucianism, the Roman belief system, Greek Rationalism, was comprised of ideals and practices scarcely affecting the social order of Rome itself.